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Working group on data security

Announcement:
Working Group on Data Security

The Administration has created a new interagency working on data
security to deal with issues like encryption and digital
telephony. This group will be chaired by the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council
and will include representatives of the agencies that have
participated in Presidential Review Directive 27, which called for
a comprehensive review of the impact of encryption technology and
advanced digital telecomrnunications systems. Agencies
participating in the new working group include the Office of
Management and Budget, FBI, Department of Justice, Department of
Comrnerce, National Security Agency, the Department of Treasury,
and the Department of State. The group will work closely with the
Inforrnation Comrnittee of the Information Infrastructure Task
Force, which is responsible for coordinating Administration
telecommunications and inforrnation policy. It will seek input
from the private sector both informally and through groups like
the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and
the U.S. Advisory Committee on the National Information
Infrastructure.

The working group will develop and irnplement Administration
policies on encryption. Advanced encryption technology can provide
better privacy protection for individuals, but can also thwart
efforts by law enforcement agencies to use wiretaps to catch and
prosecute criminals. The working group will attempt to reconcile
the need of privacy and the needs of law enforcement. Last April,
the Administration announced development of the Clipper chip, a
new computer chip designed to provide better telecomrnunications
security without compromising the ability of law enforcement to do
wiretaps. The working group will work with industry to develop and
apply technologies like the Clipper Chip, to evaluate possible
alternatives to the Clipper Chip, and to review and refine
Administration policies regarding encryption as developments
warrant.

In addition, the working group will coordinate Administration
policies regarding digital telephony. As more and more telephone
companies install high-speed, digital communications links, it
becomes more and more difficult for law enforcement agencies to
conduct wiretaps. The working group will work with industry to
ensure that new digital telecommunications systems are designed in
a way that ensures that do not prevent courtauthorized wiretaps.

For more information on the interagency working group, contact
Matt Heymann at NIST Public Affairs (301/975-2758), Mike Nelson at
OSTP (202/395-6175), or Ray Mislock at NSC (202/395-4614).